Friday, November 04, 2016

Capt. Gopinath’s small cost airline in Indian skies is going to be born again! Affordable air travel to far flung small towns in the country under the ‘Ude Desh Ka Am Nagarik’ plan launched recently by the Civil Aviation Ministry, may also lead to faster urbanisation of rural areas. In these days of overcrowding and congestion in metros and tier-one cities, the proposed Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) may also give a fillip to growth of widespread economic activity across smaller towns and prevent migration from there to large cities.

The scheme is to subsidise air travel for short distances of one-hour flying time to a fare of Rs. 2,500 up to 50% of seats. It is reported that about 50 small towns will be the initial target. Air India will start the service from January 1, 2017. The plan is to cover locations such as Vadodara, Kanpur, Vishakhapatnam, Davangere, Chikkamagaluru, and Kannur initially. The Regional Connectivity Scheme appear to be making use of the existing airports and other facilities.
04/11/16 The Hindu